Border official and ex-Hong Kong chief guilty of spying for China as Chinese ambassador summoned
The Foreign Office will remind Zheng Zeguang that activity "like this was, and will always be, unacceptable on UK soil"
The Chinese ambassador to the UK has been summoned by the Foreign Office after a Border Force official and retired police officer were convicted of spying on British soil.
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Peter Wai, 40, and ex-cop Bill Yuen, 65, were arrested after a failed attempt to snatch former Hong Kong resident Monica Kwong, from her flat in Pontefract, West Yorkshire.
The pair were found guilty on Thursday of assisting a foreign intelligence service under the National Security Act, following a two-month Old Bailey trial.
The court heard the dual Chinese-British nationals conducted "shadow policing" operations on Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters living in the UK.
Security Minister Dan Jarvis said Zheng Zeguang has been summoned "to make it clear activity like this was, and will always be, unacceptable on UK soil".
Responding to the convictions, Mr Jarvis said: "The activities carried out by these men, on behalf of China, are an infringement of our sovereignty and will never be tolerated.
"We will continue to hold China to account and challenge them directly for actions which put the safety of people in our country at risk.
"That is why the Foreign Office will summon the Chinese ambassador to make it clear activity like this was, and will always be, unacceptable on UK soil.
"This case proves the strength of the powers we have to protect us from hostile activity carried out by foreign states and these convictions should send a clear message.
"There will be serious consequences for anyone who seeks to undermine our security.
"I'm grateful to our partners in law enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service for their work in bringing these individuals to justice."
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb will sentence the men at a later date.
A third suspect, a former Royal Marine, Matthew Trickett, 37, was charged under the National Security Act alongside Yuen and Wai in May 2024 but was later found dead in a park near his home in Maidenhead.
The court heard that Wai worked as a UK Border Force officer and was also a special City of London constable and ran a private security company.
Meanwhile, Yuen was formerly a superintendent in the Hong Kong Police and was employed in London by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, the official overseas representative of Hong Kong’s government.
Hong Kong authorities had offered up to nearly £100,000 ($136,000) for the capture or information about pro-democracy supporters.
Jurors heard that Yuen went beyond his job description as office manager and helped gather intelligence on the locations of and activities of Hong Kong activists and politicians who had moved to the UK.
Ms Kwong had been accused by her former employer, a Beijing-based Australian businesswoman Tina Zou, of committing a £16million fraud.
The jury could not reach a verdict on charges that the men committed foreign interference by breaking into Kwong's home.